Baylor Team Shines at International Collegiate Sales Competition
Baylor students earned team and individual honors this weekend at the International Collegiate Sales Competition (ICSC), hosted by Florida State University in Tallahassee, FL.
The Baylor team took second place overall while Grant Senter and James Paulsen took top honors in the case competition, and True Walters finished 3rd overall in the role-play.
Baylor competed against over 30 colleges and universities and 80 students from around the country.
The case competitor’s preliminary round was focused on presenting a business plan as consultants to McGraw Hill. After winning their first round, Senter and Paulsen were only given two hours to read, analyze and present a new case to the judges in the final round.
Grant Senter, a senior ProSales major from San Antonio, TX was well prepared for the challenge. “We are well versed in case studies through our work in Dr. Tanner’s Sales Management class. We came into the competition extremely prepared thanks to the teaching we had received from Dr. Tanner. The easiest part of the competition was presenting because Baylor has really prepared us to present at the next level,” said Senter.
James Paulsen, a senior ProSales major from Tulsa, OK said, “I was thrilled to have the opportunity to compete in the case competition. The most rewarding part of the competition was seeing other competitors’ respect for Baylor University and our Professional Selling program. Every competitor seemed to know who we are and the reputation that follows. Being able to add to that tradition by placing first in the case competition and second overall at the ICSC was a great feeling. The competition was an opportunity for me to show what I have been learning this semester.”
The students focused on the role-play competed in several different buyer scenarios throughout the weekend, including business-to-consumer and business-to-business sales situations.
This weekend’s sales competition was the first for True Walters, a junior ProSales major from Aurora, CO. Describing the competition, Walters said, “I had a great experience. I met so many great people from college recruiters for companies to other sales students from around the country. I learned that preparation is a very important tool and that the most important word in business is differentiation.”
Walters attributed the team’s success to their hard work and dedication all semester. “We’ve been meeting twice a week since school started to prepare. The ProSales program and my teammates helped me be successful. It was rewarding to see all of our hard work pay off at the end,” said Walters.
Alex Dixon, a senior Business Fellows, Accounting and ProSales major from Cincinnati, OH also participated in the role-play competition. Dixon said, “It was a challenge adapting to each situation you were placed in, but we could handle it because of our preparation, practice role-plays and research, and our student coaches and my teammates helped me improve throughout the process. I learned that this is a team sport and you always have to do your best.”
Emily Hunter, Ph.D., an assistant professor for management and entrepreneurship at Baylor’s Hankamer School of Business, coached the team this year. “My experience as a coach in my first sales competition was phenomenal. The best part was watching the students grow their sales skills and abilities through the entire process. I’m really proud of all four students and each one contributed to our team winning second place. The sales students in this program have a great work ethic and it is a pleasure to coach them and help prepare them for the job market,” said Dr. Hunter.
The ICSC is supported by approximately 30 national companies hoping to recruit top sales students from the nation’s foremost university sales programs.
About the Center for Professional Selling
Dedicated to excellence in sales education and based in the university’s Hankamer School of Business, the Center for Professional Selling is recognized as one of the premier global information resources for the sales profession. For more information on the Center for Professional Selling, visit https://hankamer.baylor.edu/prosales.